


Year 2

by SingingInTheRaiin



Series: Minerva McGonagall and the Troublesome Boy [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Draco never set a snake on Harry while dueling, Friendship, Gen, Harry went to school with McGonagall so there was no way to get locked out at the station, I headcanon that only Harry can see the memory of Tom, Lucius Malfoy is a good dad, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Protective Draco, Protective Harry, Ron's wand isn't broken, Slytherin Harry, because they're both horcruxes, but not a great person, since they're bffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:27:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18349247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: The end of year 2.





	Year 2

They both stared at the large hole in the floor where the circular sink fixture had split apart and shifted aside. Then they both looked up at each other. Draco arched one eyebrow. “You’re a parselmouth. So that’s a thing, apparently. Did you know about this?”

Harry quickly shook his head, obviously recognizing that standing out in such a way wasn’t always a good thing. “I told you about that voice in the walls, but now that I think about it, it was probably the basilisk all along, and I just didn’t realize it.”

“Think you’re the heir of Slytherin?” Draco asked politely. Personally, he didn’t really believe that that was the case. He didn’t think Harry was capable of trying to murder anybody. Just being able to talk to snakes shouldn’t automatically implicate him. And he also knew that if anything really weird were going on with Harry, he would confide in Draco about it. That was the whole point in being best friends. 

After a couple of seconds, Harry shook his head again, though it was much slower this time. “Even if I never knew them, I’m from a long line of Gryffindors.” He gave Draco an almost pleading look. “You don’t think that I did all of this, do you? Why would I want to steal some random Gryffindor first year? Just because I can open the stupid chamber doesn’t mean that no one else can.”

“I believe you,” Draco said quietly. “Now let’s go get that girl before the whole school decides that they’re never going to be able to trust you again.” He tilted his head to the side as he thought about it. “Well, somewhat ironically, it seems as though the Slytherins are the only ones loyal enough to back you even when the entire rest of the school seems convinced that you’re a murderer.”

He knew that the reminder would probably sting a bit, since Harry did have some friends in the other houses, but he also knew that Harry wouldn’t get upset at Draco telling the truth. Because it was the truth that the Slytherins had not turned on Harry, even when the deck seemed stacked against him. 

Harry gave Draco a grateful smile, and then took a deep breath before stepping forward into the giant hole in the ground. Draco was about to follow suite, when he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, and he glanced back, a small frown on his face as he saw who it was. “Professor Lockhart?”

The man looked startled to see Draco standing there. “Ah, good evening, I was just, ah-”

Draco turned out the man’s stammering. As much as he hated this bumbling idiot, he was still an adult and a professor who knew more spells than a couple of second years did. And if they found that girl and she was badly injured, they would need somebody capable of healing her. Then he paused to think about what Harry’s arm had looked like with no bones. They could still use Lockhart as muscle, at the very least.

Before the man could run away, as he looked very much like he wanted to do just that, Draco marched over to him, grabbed him by the robe, and dragged him over to the pit, shoving him in despite the loud protest he was getting. Almost as an afterthought, Draco plucked the teacher’s wand out of his hand, and held it out to Harry, who was waiting patiently for him. Harry tucked it into his own pocket without a word, though there were questions written all over his face. 

They continued forward, listening to Lockhart’s annoying babbling all along the way, until they paused for a moment to take a quick break. The walk was a lot longer than any of them had expected, and it was damp and smelly on top of that. Draco turned to say something to Harry about how the Slytherin dorm was positively a palace in comparison to this place, when suddenly his wand was being snatched from his pocket, and Lockhart pointed it back and forth between the two boys. “Nobody has to get hurt here,” he warned. “Just a little memory loss, and you’ll be-”

“ _Stupefy!_ ” Harry shouted, and then Lockhart froze in place.

Draco retrieved his wand from the frozen hand, and then turned to give Harry an impressed look. “Good work. Now we just have to make sure that he won’t tell anyone that a student technically just assaulted a professor, even if it was well deserved. What was he going to do to us? A little obliviate?”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t think that that’s a good idea. We’ll just explain that it was done in self defense. I’m sure that the other professors understand what he’s like. Minerva was just complaining to me a couple of weeks ago about what an empty-headed, incompetent fool he is.”

Draco snorted. “Makes you wonder why the hell he got hired in the first place. Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Though he couldn’t be sure without asking, Draco suspected that the strange feeling in the air around them was affecting both of them, and that it was the reason neither of them felt like talking much more than the occasional whisper. Their footsteps seemed to echo impossibly loudly off of the damp floor. 

And then they reached a big circular door with carvings of snakes all around it. Draco put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “So how do you say ‘open sesame’ in snake?”

Harry rolled his eyes, and hissed out something that sounded like complete nonsense to Draco’s untrained ears. Actually, now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if one could even be trained in parseltongue. It might be the kind of ability that can only be inherited. Though if that was the case, it did bring up the question of why Harry had it. He decided to put that thought on the backburner, but he would definitely be coming back to it later.

Whatever Harry had said seemed to work, because suddenly a stone snake was rushing around the door, sending the other snakes away so that the door could swing open. Both boys exchanged slightly apprehensive looks, and then they stepped through to where the ground was even wetter than it had been in the tunnels.

Before Draco could make any witty comments about Salazar Slytherin’s decorating style, Harry was running off, and Draco rolled his eyes before following. Harry dropped to his knees in front of a girl, and her bright red hair immediately gave her away as being a Weasley, and therefore the person that they’d come down here to fetch. “Alright, so getting her back up through that pit in the girls’ bathroom is going to be a bit tricky, but…” he trailed off when he realized that Harry wasn’t even listening to him.

Harry looked up, but his attention wasn’t focused on Draco, it was on an empty space next to him. “Help me!”

Draco hurried the rest of the way forward. “Harry-” But Harry’s eyes only glanced at Draco for a second before fixing back on the empty spot. 

Draco had absolutely no idea what was going on, and he hated that. Even if he had actually managed to follow Harry this time, it still felt too much like last year happening all over again, with Draco stuck helplessly behind while Harry faced the danger himself. 

After a few minutes, Harry let out a loud gasp, and suddenly dove for the wand that had fallen from his hand when he’d knelt down next to the Weasley girl. Draco watched with wide eyes as the wand seemed to vanish, and he instantly had his own wand out, pointing at the empty space. Clearly there was something there that Harry could see, and just because Draco couldn’t see it didn’t mean he couldn’t fight it. 

He cast a stupefy, along with a couple minor stinging hexes, and then paused, having no idea if he’d succeeded or not. Then Harry was grabbing at Draco’s free hand, and pulling him towards one of the tunnels that surrounded the large center room. “Come on, we have to go! He’s calling the basilisk!”

“Who is? Harry, what the hell is going on?”

Even though they were both panting for breath, Harry managed to gasp out a little bit. “Tom Riddle. He’s Voldemort. I thought he was just a lonely kid in a diary!”

Well that made almost no sense at all, but Draco knew that now wasn’t a good time to be demanding clarification. He reached into his robes for Lockhart’s wand, and smacked Harry in the arm with it so that the boy would look over and take it. “Won’t be as good as your own, but it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing.”

Then they both came to a sudden stop when they realized that they were about to run into a wall, and there were no side tunnels to duck off into. They were trapped here, two second years up against a freakin’ basilisk, and they were so dead. How could they not be? “Close your eyes,” Harry hissed. They both stood still, eyes closed. They were holding hands, while each holding out a wand in their other hand. 

Draco could feel his own heart pounding away too quickly, and knew that Harry was probably in a similar state. “What are the odds that it’ll tear us to shreds even if it can’t kill us with petrification.”

“I don’t know,” Harry muttered. “I didn’t exactly have time to read up on the idiot’s guide to surviving a basilisk.”

And then they could both hear the heavy slithering movements of a giant snake coming their way. “It was nice knowing you, Harry. At least we can be secure in the knowledge that if I die down here, my father is definitely going to sue this school and Dumbledore, and Lockhart, and everyone else he can hold culpable.”

“Yeah that makes me feel loads better,” Harry whispered. Then they both ended up holding their breath as the basilisk approached. They squeezed their linked hands tightly, and then Harry suddenly let go and stepped forward. Draco wanted to drag him back, but he knew that he needed to trust Harry here.

Harry started hissing out words that Draco couldn’t understand, and he really hoped for both of their sakes that Harry was better at being diplomatic with snakes than he was with people at times. He hoped that it was a good sign that the two of them weren’t already dead. 

And then he heard a loud screeching noise, and the basilisk began making frenzies hissing sounds. He really wanted to peek his eyes open to see what the hell was going on, especially as the whole tunnel felt like it was shaking from the basilisk slamming into the wall, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try that.

He waited with baited breath, and then he could hear the basilisk moving away from them. Both boys stayed where they were, and then when they couldn’t hear the snake anymore, they opened their eyes simultaneously. They turned to look at each other with unhidden relief, and pulled each other into a hug. “What just happened?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know. That sounded like Fawkes though, didn’t it?” At Draco’s confused look, Harry elaborated. “Dumbledore’s bird. She’s always been in his office when I’ve gone there with Minerva. Look!” He pointed to the dark red liquid steaming on the ground. “She must have hurt the basilisk!” He gave Draco a wide-eyed look. “I’ll explain more later, but Tom is connected to the diary, and we have to destroy it before Weasley is gone entirely.”

Draco nodded, and followed Harry as they ran back to the center room. The basilisk was there, waving around and hissing frantically, and little beads of blood were being flung around. “The bird blinded the snake,” Draco whispered. “So we can actually look where we going while we fight.” He hesitated for a moment before letting out a slightly annoyed sigh. “Since I can’t see this ‘Tom’ guy, you’re going to have to face him. I’ll take care of the snake.”

While Harry was busy facing off against his invisible foe, Draco looked around for a good access point. He knew a few good slashing spells. Though he had no way of knowing if they would actually have any effect on such an old and magical creature. He swore under his breath, and glanced back at Harry. He had a look of concentration on his face, and kept ducking aside to avoid spells that looked like they were appearing out of nowhere.

He looked around, and cursed this stupid school for having creepy snakes and invisible guys, and everything else. And then suddenly Harry was falling to the ground, and Draco’s eyes widened in alarm. Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it quickly because he could not just stand around and let something happen to his best friend.

Suddenly Fawkes was swooping overhead, something clutched in her claws. And then there was the clatter of metal against stone as what looked like the sorting hat fell to the ground, a gleaming sword spilling out of it. There was no time to try and figure out what was going on. Draco grabbed the sword, grunting as it felt like it was burning into his hand. But the bird wouldn’t have delivered it for no reason, and Harry was in trouble.

So Draco grit his teeth and resolved to work through the pain. He tucked the sword through his belt, and then began climbing up the large stone carving on the wall until he was on a little ledge, and he pressed his back against the wall, hoping that he wouldn’t slip because a fall from this high up would be pretty damn harmful, if not entirely lethal. 

“Hey! Big, ugly, snake thing! I bet you want a taste of me, huh?” 

Whether it was because the basilisk could actually understand him, or just because he was making a big fuss, the snake actually turned and slithered over until it was much closer to Draco. As soon as it was close enough, Draco grabbed the sword free, swearing loudly at that burning feeling, and took a couple of deep breaths before leaping forward. His stomach fluttered like crazy as he was in freefall, and then he landed right on top of the basilisk, only able to stop himself from falling off by jamming the sword right into the snake’s neck.

It began rearing its head around like crazy, and Draco had to cling tightly to the sword with both hands to stop himself from being flung to his death. He glanced down, and saw that Harry was still pinned to the ground, and suddenly the basilisk was dipping down towards Harry, probably being directed there by the invisible man.

Draco gained a better footing, and took a deep breath before pulling the sword free and jabbing it back in. As the dark red blood sprayed out in between jabs, each drop felt like it was scalding into Draco. But he kept going anyways, because he wasn’t going to let Harry die. He’d already put too much effort into building this friendship up, and it would be a waste to let go of it now.

And then he was falling again, with the basilisk, and Draco kept hacking away until he was being sprawled across the ground, and the wind was knocked out of him. He felt like he was being burned alive, but he managed to force himself up into a sitting position so that he could look over at Harry. 

Harry had blood dripping down his arm as he grabbed a tooth from the basilisk’s skull, and then jammed it into the top of a closed diary. Draco’s eyes widened as he recognized the beaten up looking book. He’d watched as his father had put it in with the Weasley’s purchases, but he hadn’t thought much of it at the time. So that explained how Weasley got it, though he’d still need to figure out when Harry interacted with it.

The diary began to ooze a thick black fluid that looked like ink. Draco had no idea what was happening, because he couldn’t see anything that Harry was looking at, but from the triumphant look on Harry’s face, it seemed that he had succeeded at whatever he’d been trying to do. 

After a few seconds passed, Harry quickly crawled over to where Weasley was lying on the ground, spilled ink stopping just short of getting into her fanned out hair. Harry reached out to touch her wrist, and then his shoulders slumped down in relief. “She’s alive.” Then he looked over at Draco, his eyes wide. “Are you okay?” 

Draco nodded, despite feeling tired and on fire. “Are you?”

Harry winced as he touched his bleeding arm. “Yeah,” he said through gritted teeth.

They both crawled over to each other and met in the middle, and then laid themselves out on the floor with their hands overlapping between them. “We’re a pretty sorry sight. We came down here to rescue that girl, and now she’s going to have to figure out how to climb out of this hell hole on her own.”

“Sorry to drag you into this.”

Draco scoffed. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course I wasn’t going to just let you come down here by yourself. It’s not like it’s your fault that the idiots in this school think that you were trying to kill people.” He snorted. “Imagine how much worse they would see it if they knew that you’re a parselmouth. They’d probably tear you to pieces over it.” He paused for a moment to take in a slow breath before continuing. “Of course I wouldn’t let them do that, though.”

“Of course.”

They both stayed where they were, and Draco honestly thought that this was going to be where he would die. It wasn’t a great looking place, but he liked the feeling of Harry’s hand on top of his. He just wished that he could get a better look at Harry’s face, but the lighting down here was too dim.

He continued to stare at Harry until his eyelids grew too heavy. Then he heard the fluttering of wings, and forced his eyes open so that he could see what was happening. Fawkes landed down by their heads and hopped forward a few times before leaning over, and crying. Draco hadn’t even known that birds could cry, but the tears dropped down onto Harry’s arm, and both boys watched in amazement as the wound there closed itself up. 

Harry was able to sit up, still looking stiff and sore and tired, but no longer dying. “We’re going to get out of here, Draco, I promise.”

,,,

Waking up in the hospital wing was less than ideal, but it was a lot better than never waking up at all. He groaned as he started to look around, and then let out a soft noise of surprise when he saw that his father was standing over him. He had an unreadable look on his face. “The burns from the basilisk blood was entirely healed, but the brands on your hands could only be disinfected and cleaned up.” 

Draco glanced down at his hands, which were both wrapped in clean white bandages. “Father, that diary-”

“Now is not the time to speak of such things, Draco.” Then he reached out to run his hand briefly over the top of Draco’s head. “I am relieved to see that you are going to be alright.”

“And Harry?”

Draco’s father hesitated for a moment before answering. “He’ll be fine. But Draco, I don’t think that it’s a good idea for you to continue to spend time with that boy. Even if he is a Slytherin, there will be no mercy towards him for what he did as an infant.” He could probably see the protest building on Draco’s face, because he just sighed and shook his head. “We will speak of this later. For now, I will just be grateful that my only child has survived an inappropriately dangerous situation yet again.” 

Later, Harry shuffled into the hospital wing, looking like he hadn’t stopped for treatment before going to the headmaster to make a report. He had a tired grin on his face as he sat on the edge of Draco’s bed. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but it looks like your father is down one house elf.”

Draco had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he was excited to hear it. “Everything’s an adventure with you, isn’t it?” Then he shrugged once. “Well, lucky for you then that I don’t mind a little adventure every now and then.”


End file.
